1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for efficient and precise placement of discrete quantities of materials adjacent to the apparatus as the apparatus is advanced forward. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for the placement of top soil, the filling of gabion baskets, the bedding of water and sewer lines, the placement of aggregates around an under drain and an edge drain, the placement of aggregate as grading for a sidewalk or a curb, the placement of riprap at the edge of a body of water and the placement of aggregate around a water or phone line, the grading of aggregates and the forming of structures such as a curb or a curb and gutter.
2. Background Art
In the construction industry, many projects involve moving large quantities of material and placing portions of the material at a desired location. When the desired location for placing the material has a small area, the material must be portioned or metered into discrete quantities of material and precisely placed. Generally, such construction projects are accomplished by unloading large quantities of material from machinery, such as a dump truck, and then precisely placing discrete quantities of the material by relying on manual labor.
An example of material typically placed in discrete quantities is the aggregate around a drain pipe in an edge drain alongside of a roadway. Large amounts of aggregate are required to fill the length of such edge drains, however, the aggregate must be placed in discrete quantities as most edge drains are shallow and have a narrow opening. Machinery, such as a front end loader can portion the aggregate along the edge drain while laborers place uniform amounts within the edge drain. Similar methods are utilized for placing top soil, gabion basket fill, water and sewer line bedding fill, aggregate around an under drain near a roadway, aggregate for a sidewalk or curb grading, riprap at the edge of a body of water and aggregate around a water or phone line.
Placing discrete quantities of material is also often difficult due to the steepness of the area where the material is to be placed. Filling gabion baskets provides an example of the difficulty frequently encountered in placing material. Gabion baskets, which are chicken wire boxes filled with aggregate, are utilized to line waterways and roadways having steep sides to prevent erosion or rock slides. The steep banks and roadsides necessitating the use of gabion banks are challenging terrains for manually placing the aggregate within the gabion baskets. The gabion baskets can also be mechanically filled by a machine such as a front end loader, however, large quantities of aggregates are wasted due to the inability of such machines to precisely place the aggregate within the gabion box. Additionally, a front end loader cannot uniformly fill gabion boxes necessitating manual finish work.
Additionally, placing discrete quantities of material is often difficult due to obstacles in the area where the material is to be placed. For example, curbs alongside a road obstruct movement when preparing a bed for a sidewalk by placing aggregate at the desired location of the sidewalk. Curbs are also frequently in an uncured state when sidewalks are being formed therefore contact must be avoided with fresh curbs to avoid damage when placing the aggregate.
Movement of the material from the dump site to a desired location such as an edge drain, a gabion basket or a sidewalk bed, is inefficient as a portion of the material is unavoidably wasted in transit from the dump site to the location where the material is to be placed. In addition to losing a portion of the material during movement, a portion of the material is lost due to the difficulty of retrieving all of the material initially dumped.
Dumping a large quantity of material and manually moving the material in discrete quantities is slow, tedious and expensive as the laborers must move the material with tools such as shovels to the desired location. Material can be placed perhaps more efficiently by a machine such as a front end loader but with limited ability for portioning the material and precisely placing the material.
Construction projects involving the placement of material also frequently involve positioning the material into a desired shape such as a road curb or a grade for a sidewalk, which can be accomplished manually or mechanically. The methods for positioning the material cannot, however, be accomplished simultaneously with the placement of the material in discrete quantities. Additionally, as mentioned above, road curbs are frequently in an uncured state when a sidewalk grade is prepared which provides an obstacle to grading the aggregate placed as a bed for the sidewalk.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that what is needed in the art are apparatus and methods for rapidly, efficiently, and economically placing discrete quantities of material at a desired location. Apparatus and methods are also needed for the simultaneous placement of discrete quantities of materials and positioning of the material.